First Look: Yealink SIP-T4X Phones

May 17, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

Yealink SIP-T4X VoIP Phones

Over the next couple months Yealink will be releasing several new phones and to use a popular idiom; with the new Yealink SIP-T4X Series, Yealink are really breaking the mold.

What Is It?

The Yealink SIP-T4X series are the latest VoIP phones from Yealink. The series currently consists of three phones, an expansion module and a Bluetooth dongle. The new phones mark a big break from the familiar look of the popular Yealink SIP-T2X and Yealink SIP-T3X series phones with a completely new design.

Part of the new design, one of the biggest difference between the new models and the older ones is the lack of a paper insert for programmable keys. A common feature on previous Yealink phone models the paper insert has been replaced by “flexible buttons” that can be programmed for different features. Some of the other notable new features include non-slip rubber feet, a foot stand with two positions and ergonomic recessed buttons.

Another new feature of the new phones is Yealink Optima HD Voice. Optima HD voice is the combination of software and hardware design with wideband technology to help maximize acoustic performance.
The new Yealink phones are:

Yealink T46GYealink SIP-T46G – The SIP-T46G is the first of the new phones to be released and is the higher end of the new models. Geared towards executives the SIP-T46G is the only phone that supports the new Yealink EXP40 expansion module and the BT40 USB dongle. When paired with EXP40 expansion modules the SIP-T46G can have up to 240 additional programmable keys.

Yealink T42GYealink SIP-T42G and Yealink SIP-T41P – The SIP-T42G and SIP-T41P are the two entry level phones in the SIP-T4X series. The two phones share most of the same similarities when it comes to line appearances, features and physical appearance. The only difference between the two models is the SIP-T42G is Gigabit while the SIP-T41P is 10/100.

      • 3 line appearances
      • Yealink Optima HD Voice
      • 2.7″ 192×64-pixel Grayscale Graphical LCD
      • Dual 10/100/1000 RJ45 Ports (SIP-T42G)
      • Dual 10/100 RJ45 Ports (SIP-T41P)
      • RJ9 headset port
      • Built-in auto sensing IEEE 802.3 af Power over Ethernet
      • Optional 5V DC power supply (not included)

Who Is It For?

With three new models in the series the Yealink SIP-T4X covers all the bases of phone users. While described as entry level phones, the  SIP-T41P and SIP-T42G will cover most phone users’ needs from casual users through call center and sales staff. For users who need a little more from there phone such as receptionist and executives the SIP-T46G will be a good option with the ability its to add additional programmable keys through the EXP40 expansion module.

Pricing and Availability?

Yealink SIP-T46G – MSRP $269 – Available now
Yealink SIP-T42G – MSRP $179 – Shipping June 30th
Yealink SIP-T41P – No Price has been released but my guess is that it will be in the $130-150 range – Shipping August 30th
Yealink EXP40 – MSRP $105 – Shipping June 30th

How to Become a Telemedicine Provider

May 15, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Polycom Telemedicine (Andy G / Flickr)

Telemedicine is now “mainstream,” reports Medical Economics writer, Beth Thomas Hertz.

Citing a report from InMedica, Hertz explains that, ” 308,000 patients around the world were monitored remotely by providers in 2012 for congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension and mental health conditions.”

And that’s just the beginning.

The number of virtual patients is expected to balloon to 1.8 million in the next four years.

Telemedicine Uses

Telemedicine can be defined as video conferencing with a patient through HIPAA approved telemedicine kits, mobile monitoring devices, use of electronic medical data, or accessing information from a smartphone app.

Kim Dunn, MD, explains to Hertz that in her Bellaire, Texas practice, “Telemedicine is fundamentally about communication, and that’s how we use it.”

Telemedicine uses are expanding with the desire to reduce costs by remotely:

  • Tracking disease progression
  • Sharing specialists
  • Monitoring chronic conditions to avoid emergency room visits
  • Reading radiology diagnostic tests
  • Monitoring and coordinating treatment plans

How to Become a Telemedicine Provider

Hertz’s article is a great resource to learn:

  • Pitfalls to avoid
  • How to become a provider
  • How to get started
  • Reimbursement for services

A lot of helpful tips are included like being aware of technology compatibility issues, how to become a medical consultant through a telehealth network, overcoming training obstacles, and more.

Via Medical Economics

 

 

 

Yamaha USB Conference Speakerphones

May 10, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

Growing up in Northwestern Pennsylvania the first I knew of Yamaha was their snowmobiles, motorbikes and boats. A lot of the kids I went to school with spent their winters and/or summers riding some combination of one or all of them. Later on in high school as a lot of my friends started bands I started to associate the name with drum kits and guitars.

For many years all I knew of Yamaha was their motor vehicles and musical instrument but since working at VoIP Supply I’ve gotten to know a different set of their products, USB conference speakerphones.

Yamaha USB Conference Speakerphones

Yamaha USB Conference Speakerphones
Yamaha currently offers three different USB Conference Speakerphones with each of them targeted at a different use scenario.

Yamaha PJP-10UR

Yamaha PJP-10URThe Yamaha PJP-10UR is compact speakerphone that is designed for desktop and personal conference phones. The PJP-10UR has an optimal microphone range of 1.5 feet. This range combined with the sturdy aluminum body, light weight and included cloth storage bag make it a good match for road warriors.

  • Microphones – 4
  • Speakers – 2
  • Pick up Range – 5ft Max 10ft
  • Max Volume – 80db
  • Adaptive Echo Canceller
  • Noise Reduction

Yamaha PJP-20UR

Yamaha PJP-20URFor voice and video calls in larger offices and small conference rooms the Yamaha PJP-20UR is a great solution. The USB powered PJP-20UR features easy plug-n-play setup and features dedicated keys for volume control and LED lights for microphone mute status.

  • Microphones – 3
  • Speakers – 1
  • Pick up Range – 1.5ft Max 3.25ft
  • Max Volume – 85db
  • Adaptive Echo Canceller
  • Noise Reduction
  • Supports RoHS

Yamaha PJP-50USB

Yamaha PJP-50USBThe third of the Yamaha speakerphones is the Yamaha PJP-50USB which is designed to be used in conference rooms. Like the other two speakerphones the PJP-50USB is USB powered and features easy plug-n-play set up. The phone can cover a range of up to 32 feet and for larger rooms you can daisy chain 4 units together for greater coverage.

  • Microphones – 8
  • Speakers – 4
  • Pick up Range – 10ft Max 16ft
  • Max Volume – 85db
  • Adaptive Echo Canceller
  • Noise Reduction
  • Supports RoHS

5 Reasons Virtual Doctor Visits Are Better

May 8, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

How would you rather spend your time online if you had a health concern; searching WebMD or speaking with a real doctor through video conferencing?

MobiHealthNews writer Jonah Comstock posted an article today, Five Reasons Virtual Doctor Visits Might Be Better Than In-Person Ones, showing how video conferencing is growing in popularity for healthcare uses:

  1. Convenient for both patient and doctor
  2. A virtual waiting room is better than the physical one
  3. Increased patient engagement thanks to screensharing
  4. More convenient, automatic record-keeping
  5. Patients feel like doctors pay better attention to them during virtual visits

Virtual Checkups Save Time, More Comfortable

Video conferencing used to be expensive but now it can easily be done via your laptop, tablet, and even smartphones.

The benefits of virtual doctor visits are the same whether you’re in a rural area or if the doctor’s office is down the street.  It’s going to save you time and be more comfortable.

You won’t have to leave work for extended periods of time, you can wait in your house instead of a waiting room, and you may find that your doctor pays more attention to you.

Telemedicine Kits and Kiosks

Telemedicine Kit

Telemedicine Kit

Comstock reported that health kiosks are now being developed that perform virtual visits where “a doctor can listen to a patient’s heartbeat, take their blood pressure, and look in their ear with a connected otoscope, to name just a few devices.”

Generally speaking, a doctors office can use something like VoIP Supply’s HIPAA approved telemedicine kit and all you’ll need is a strong internet connection and a good webcam.

It’s the doctor’s responsibility, Comstock notes, to use a video service that is “HIPAA compliant to protect patient medical information — but nonetheless virtual visits are gaining popularity as a new way to deliver healthcare.”

Via MobiHealthNews

 

5 Reasons Virtual Doctor Visits Are Better

How would you rather spend your time online if you had a health concern; searching WebMD or speaking with a real doctor through video conferencing?

MobiHealthNews writer Jonah Comstock posted an article today, Five Reasons Virtual Doctor Visits Might Be Better Than In-Person Ones, showing how video conferencing is growing in popularity for healthcare uses:

  1. Convenient for both patient and doctor
  2. A virtual waiting room is better than the physical one
  3. Increased patient engagement thanks to screensharing
  4. More convenient, automatic record-keeping
  5. Patients feel like doctors pay better attention to them during virtual visits

Virtual Checkups Save Time, More Comfortable

Video conferencing used to be expensive but now it can easily be done via your laptop, tablet, and even smartphones.

The benefits of virtual doctor visits are the same whether you’re in a rural area or if the doctor’s office is down the street.  It’s going to save you time and be more comfortable.

You won’t have to leave work for extended periods of time, you can wait in your house instead of a waiting room, and you may find that your doctor pays more attention to you.

Telemedicine Kits and Kiosks

Comstock reported that health kiosks are now being developed that perform virtual visits where “a doctor can listen to a patient’s heartbeat, take their blood pressure, and look in their ear with a connected otoscope, to name just a few devices.”

Generally speaking, a doctors office can use something like VoIP Supply’s HIPAA approved telemedicine kit and all you’ll need is a strong internet connection and a good webcam.

It’s the doctor’s responsibility, Comstock notes, to use a video service that is “HIPAA compliant to protect patient medical information — but nonetheless virtual visits are gaining popularity as a new way to deliver healthcare.”

Via MobiHealthNews

 

Valuable Digium and Switchvox Trainings

It’s finally May and you know what that means – Busy summer sales months are right around the corner!  If your phone system is an antiquated analog or digital system, you are heading into the busiest weeks of the year with a disadvantage already!

At this point, you are probably already considering a new VoIP phone system.  If Switchvox, Frost and Sullivan’s choice for global growth leadership in Unified Communications, is a system you are considering or have already purchased, below are some training opportunities that you need to mark on your calendar!

Is Switchvox Right for you? A live demonstration of Switchvox UC Phone System  – FREE held every Thursday at 3pm EDT – Click here to register!
Register for this webinar to see the Switchvox system for yourself. Once you see the ease of use and expanded feature set of the Switchvox system, you won’t consider any other VoIP system, and you surely won’t want to use your legacy PBX.
Intro to Switchvox User Training – online training for your phone system users for one year – $995 for one year – Click here to buy! If you have already made the choice to switch to Switchvox and are now faced with the daunting task of training all your phone users, let Digium help! This online course gives your users a self paced tutorial on how to be more efficient with Switchvox, complete with an optional certification exam at the end!

Switchvox Admin Training – online training for your administer to use and configure Switchvox for one year – $295 for one year. Sure Switchvox is easy, but so is tying your shoe and you had to be trained to to do that, right? This self paced online course will teach you how to professionally configure and maintain your Switchvox system.

Advanced Switchvox Admin Training – online training to optimize and troubleshoot for your PBX admin for one year – $295 for one year – This 2 and half hour self-paced course brings you beyond just a professional Switchvox admin. With such topics as troubleshooting and advanced IVR creation, this course is sure to make you the master of your domain!

Free Trainings Available for Digium Phones

 

Already have a snazzy open sourced Asterisk®-based IP PBX?  There is a great training for you about the possibilities that JavaScript opens for Digium phones that work with Asterisk deployments. Maximize the resources you already have by building custom applications for your business right on your phone!

Cisco Small Business Reveals More Value in Gigabit Phone Line

If you were a fan of Cisco last quarter you no doubt followed their 4-4-3 promotion where you practically got your 4th SPA504 or SPA303 phone for free when you bought a 4 pack. What a great promotion! Let’s face it, when the marketing giants at Cisco put their minds to work, they pump out some great deals! But all good things must come to an end.  How do you top that?

Well, believe it or not, they have! The Cisco SPA504 is arguably our most popular Small Business VoIP phone and has been since it came out in 2009.  Not only is the Cisco SPA504 feature rich and sexy, it is pretty affordable too at only $124.99.  The SPA504 offers 4 lines, a backlit LCD, dual 10/100 switched PoE ports, and will support SIP or SCPC.  How do you improve on that for most office desktops?

How about upgrading the 10/100 port to a 10/100/1000 port? The addition of a switched PoE Gigabit Ethernet port allows you to

Cisco SPA514g

Cisco SPA514G

pass a single network cable to both your VoIP phone and your desktop saving a ton of money on multiple cat5 cable drops.  Using GigE allows even faster data and voice packet traffic to your desktop and phone allowing you to work more efficiently (when used with a GigE switch).  The new Cisco SPA514G has just that! Enjoy all the great features of the SPA504 with the increased speed of the SPA514! What makes it better? Thanks to Cisco’s marketing power, the SPA514 is actually cheaper  than the SPA504G until July 27th!

 

 

 

If the Cisco SPA514 isn’t exactly what you are looking for this quarter, Cisco has some other great items on special as well.

 

Cisco SPA512

Cisco SPA512

 

The Cisco SPA512G is a single line IP phone with a backlit LCD screen that offers dual switched 10/100/1000 PoE ports. It is the little sister of the SPA514G with an almost identical footprint, just 1 line instead of 4. It is also the big sister of the SPA502 offering the 10/100/1000 ports instead of 10/100.  The SPA512 is now available for even less than the Cisco SPA502, making it a great value for your ever shrinking budget.

 

 

 

If you are deploying a Cisco SPA phone into a small to medium business, you may also need an attendant console. An attendant console, or sidecar, gives you multiple extensions at the touch of a single button. Cisco attendant consoles are super handy for

Cisco SPA500DS

Cisco SPA500DS

receptionists or other employees who will be transferring calls often. Cisco offers two attendant consoles for the SMB. The Cisco SPA500S is great for businesses with 32 to 64 extensions where the person at the other end of the extension won’t be changing much. The SPA500S uses a paper insert to display the extension name, so it will get really messy if used in a company with high turnover or lots of extension moves, however it is budget friendly.  The newer Cisco SPA500DS offers 30 lines with a dynamic backlit LCD.  Because it uses an LCD display rather than a paper insert, the SPA500DS tends to be a cleaner, sleeker look that can be up to date with just a computer entry without wasting paper.  Using 2 SPA500DS will only get you an additional 60 lines, but it is ideal where there is high turnover, part time or interns, or frequent extension reassignment.

 

If you are not ready to make the change to a VoIP phone yet but are ready to make the change to VoIP service, you need a Cisco ATA.

Cisco SPA112

Cisco SPA112

The Cisco SPA112 and SPA122 ATA’s offer support for two analog phones connected to your VoIP service provider.  As if the Cisco SPA112 wasn’t one of the most competitively priced ATA’s on the market already, Cisco is offering this simplistic VoIP adapter at unprecendented savings until July 27th!

 

 

All Cisco Promotions for May 3 – July 27th

 

VoIP Supply Nominated for Buffalo Niagara Business Ethics Award

May 3, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

VoIP Supply’s mission is to do well, so that it can do good for the community.

That’s why we’re so proud to announce our nomination for the 2013 Buffalo Niagara Business Ethics Award (BNBEA).

Ethics is the type of corporate philosophy that’s normally recognized so, The American Business Ethics award was founded in 1994 by the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) as a way to shed some light on companies doing the right thing. (more…)

15 Business Trends to Avoid

May 2, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Small businesses hear about trends all the time. In theory, a lot of them sound like great ideas to boost sales or add traffic to your site. But, which ones actually work?

Patience always works.

There’s no harm in watching and waiting to see which trends pan out.

To keep yourself from wasting valuable time on flashy new fads, check out the advice from fellow entrepreneurs in 15 Business Trends To Avoid This Year from the Mike Michalowicz Blog: (more…)

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